French Maritime Pine bark

[SarinahL]

Hi all,

Just a quick question. I've been looking for pure bark to mix my own medium and so far I've stumbled upon this stuff that they call "decorative bark" (to be used in or on top of plant pots and soil). It is made of French Maritime Pine Bark. It seems to have been cleaned, but it is not specified how. Also, it's really meant to use with plants, so I'm not expecting this to be highly toxic to plants in general.

I can't find any conclusive evidence with google, and I am troubled somewhat by the language barrier (some things are considered so 'well-known' that only abbreviations or slang is used), am I right in thinking this is allright for orchids?

In fact, it's used as the main composite in most orchid medium mixes?

Thanks!

[tucker85]

I've never heard of French Maritime Pine Bark. I think you would be better off to buy bark specifically sold for growing orchids.

[SarinahL]

Well you see, what people call French bark, seems to be exactly that, french maritime pine. Its just not conclusive on this, anywhere. And french bark is promoted for orchids.. I'm hoping this is just a language thing, but I don't have anything to compare packaging to. The commercially mixed products for orchids that are available to me are complete crap (well, not if you only grow terrestrials).
I've killed two noid phals now, due to poor air circulation at the roots, and I'm just not going to do that to my more rare species.

[Ray]

Sarinah, my guess is that while it may be washed, the treatment is probably insufficient to remove the resins that can be damaging to orchids. I'm not aware of any orchid that grows on conifers in nature.

Most conifers emit a variety of chemicals that are intended to ward off "attackers", and in order to remove those, steam treatment and aging are the common pathways.

[SarinahL]

I'm not aware of any orchid that grows on conifers in nature.

I'm completely confused now. Conifers are not the same as firs, or pine, but they're all the same family, or division to be Wikipedia-exact (I have no real knowledge of these things).
Also, fir bark is mentioned all over the web as suitable for orchids. Orchids don't grow on firs either, right? Not the ones from tropical regions anyway.
What I have here is pine bark (french maritime to be exact), advertised to be used on top of the soil or for extra drainage (presumably in the soil.
I'd pretreat it by soaking, maybe even boiling for sterilizing. Would that also be enough?
So far, I'm only more confused..

[Ray]

Sarinah,

That's exactly my point - in order to be rendered suitable for use as an orchid medium, those barks tend to be treated to remove the chemicals that act as preventive measures.

Those used as mulch do not need to have the chemicals removed, and in fact, it's probably better that they not be, for longevity.

Boiling might be adequate, I don't know. Try it. If there is any kind of oily film on the water, it suggests that it's not great as a medium in an untreated state. You'd have to try repeated "boilings" to see if it continues, and it might be simply too much effort.